The first is the uncertain animal that is called in the Bible ‘be•he•mot,’ Behemoth. The first problem with this creature is that its description does not exactly fit any known animal. Throughout the ages, commentators tried to figure out whether it is a hippopotamus, elephant, or even a dinosaur. Here is the full, biblical description of this strange animal:
“Behold now Behemoth, which I made like I made you; he eats grass like an ox. Behold now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the muscles of his belly. He stiffens his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are knit together. His bones are like tubes of bronze; his limbs are like bars of iron. He is the beginning of the ways of God; let him who made him bring near his sword to him. Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play. He lies under the thorny bushes, in the cover of the reed, and fens. The thorny bushes cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook surround him. Behold, he drinks up a river, and hastens not; he trusts that he can draw the Jordan up into his mouth. Shall any one take him with his eyes open? Or pierce through his nose with a snare?”
Despite this long description we still don’t know what animal it fits.
The other problem we’re facing is that this is the only reference to the Behemoth that we have in the Bible. Another problem with the name ‘be•he•mot’ is that it does not agree in name and gender with the adjectives that modify it. Here’s a quick Hebrew lesson: Every living noun has four forms: a different word for Masculine singular, Feminine singular, Masculine plural, and Feminine plural. For example, the word ‘teacher’ has four forms: ‘moreh’ (M.S); ‘mora’ (F.S); ‘morim’ (M.Pl.); and ‘morot’ (F.Pl.). As you can see in the last word, the F.Pl (Feminine plural) form always ends with the sound ‘ot’ as does the name ‘be•he•mot.’ The problem is that all the adjectives and the pronouns used in its description are set to Masculine Singular (See how ‘be•he•mot’ is referred to as ‘he’ and ‘his’ in the verses above.
The Hebrew word for beast is ‘be•he•ma’, and its plural form is ‘be•he•mot.’ The biblical text refers to horses, donkeys, oxen, cows, sheep, goats and more as ‘be•he•mot,’ but, obviously, this is not the case with our word today.
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